NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, two leading non-profit membership organizations serving the New York technology community, NY Tech Meetup (NYTM) and the New York Technology Council (NYTECH), announced that they have merged to form the NY Tech Alliance.
The new organization will be the region’s largest group representing the technology community with over 60,000 members. Its mission is to represent, inspire, support, and help lead the New York technology community and ecosystem to create a better future for all. The NY Tech Alliance builds on over 15 years of combined work building, supporting, and advocating for the tech community in New York City. The combined groups will continue the programming and operations of both NYTM and NYTECH, with particular focus on public policy issues such as workforce development, diversity in tech, data privacy and security, the sharing economy, and many other issues affecting the future of New York.
Jessica Lawrence Quinn, previously the Executive Director of NYTM, will serve as the CEO, and Erik Grimmelmann, previously the President and CEO of NYTECH, will serve as President. NYTM’s Andy Saldaña and Casey Taylor will be the Director of Operations and Community Manager, respectively, and NYTECH’s Alice Ng will retain her title of Director of Marketing & Events. Andrew Rasiej, previously Chairman of the NYTM Board of Directors, will serve as Chairman for the new organization.
“This union brings together the two biggest and most effective tech community organizations in New York,” said Andrew Rasiej, Chairman of the new NY Tech Alliance. “This merger builds on the accomplishments of both organizations and will not only further our ability to represent and support the growing technology community, but to also advocate for public policy that will support a better future for all.”
“With such similar missions and goals, it makes incredible sense to formalize our long-standing relationship with New York Tech Council and combine forces to better serve New York and the New York tech community,” says Jessica Lawrence Quinn, CEO of the new NY Tech Alliance. “There is still much work to be done to increase diversity in the tech sector, to ensure that our workforce has the skills necessary for technology jobs, and to see that technology is used to improve the lives of all New Yorkers. We are excited about all of the possibilities that becoming a single organization will create.”
“NY Tech Alliance will continue to speak out on important social and policy issues, just as NYTM and NYTECH have done in the past,” stated Erik Grimmelmann, President of the new NY Tech Alliance. “Improving the diversity of the NY tech ecosystem will continue to be a priority.”
The merger of these two non-profit organizations has been formally approved by the office of the NY State Attorney General. All current membership types and levels in each organization will be transitioned to the new organization. Events currently scheduled by both entities will continue; NY Tech Meetup’s monthly event will be tomorrow evening, June 7, at NYU Skirball, and the next NY Tech Council event is a presentation on identifying growth obstacles and real-world ways to improve systems and manage people by Brian Turchin, CEO of Cape Horn Strategies, on June 15. For now, the two websites www.nytm.org and www.nytech.org will continue to operate while a new website for the NY Tech Alliance is developed.
Founded in 2004, the NY Tech Meetup has been the world’s largest Meetup group and the world’s largest tech organization representing more than 50,000 members. Its programs and partnerships supported the growth and diversification of the city's technology industry, and it hosts a perennially sold-out monthly event where members gather to watch innovative companies and organizations demo new ideas, hear leading-edge thinking on technology topics, and build their networks to develop their businesses and enterprises. Nearly every notable new New York-based tech company, including Foursquare and Tumblr, made their debut at a NYTM event. NYTM also rallied the tech community to action in situations as diverse as providing volunteer tech support in relief of Hurricane Sandy, the public anti-SOPA protests, promoting high school and college technical training and entrepreneurship, and encouraging more diversity in the NYC technology ecosystem, particularly among women and underserved communities. It also spearheaded the 2014 release of the NYC Tech Ecosystem study which helped show that NYC is experiencing an economic transformation in all its core industries driven by technological innovation.
The New York Technology Council was founded in 2009, focused on developing and promoting the technology industry in New York City. NYTECH produced a number of events each month, addressing a variety of topics including Cloud Computing, Digital Advertising, Finance & Accounting, Funding & Investing, International, Legal, Mobile Apps, Sales & Marketing, and UX Design, as well as an author series, CEO Roundtables, and semi-annual networking events. In April 2015, NYTM along with NYTECH represented New York at the first “Tech Meetup” held at the White House, as well as at national tech council events. The organization was also active in policy and advocacy on local, national, and international levels, and the NY Tech Alliance will continue this work.
About the NY Tech Alliance
The mission of the NY Tech Alliance is to represent, inspire, support, and help lead the New York technology community and ecosystem to create a better future for all. Founded in 2016 with the merger of NY Tech Meetup and the New York Technology Council, the organization has over 60,000 individual and institutional members, reflecting the full spectrum of the greater New York area tech community and making it the largest tech organization in the region. Led by CEO Jessica Lawrence Quinn and President Erik Grimmelmann, and Chaired by Andrew Rasiej, the NY Tech Alliance continues the work of its predecessor organizations, hosts a monthly Meetup at NYU’s Skirball Auditorium as well as educational and social events, and continues to focus programming and advocacy efforts on issues important to the technology sector and New York.
